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  • 8-December-2021

    English

    Estimating regional house price levels - Methodology and results of a pilot project with Spain

    While indices tracing the evolutions of regional house prices are increasingly available, this is less the case for similar data on house price levels. And where data on house price levels exist, they are not necessarily consistent with the patterns observed from house price indices. Yet, consistent regional statistics on house price levels are fundamental to assess housing affordability, potential barriers to labour mobility across regions, and for the design of housing policies. This article puts forward a method to compile regional house price levels that are consistent with the evolutions given by quality-adjusted house price indices, representative of the underlying stock of dwellings, and based on the information on house price levels that is available at all dates rather than in a single reference year. This method could be scaled up to different countries. The results obtained with Spanish data show that the decline in house prices following the global financial crisis of 2008-09 initially reduced the dispersion in house prices across Spanish regions, but this dispersion has increased again afterwards, and since 2016, it exceeds the one recorded in 2008. A comparison of price-per-m² to regional-income ratios shows that the relative housing affordability in the region of Madrid deteriorated compared to all other Spanish regions in the last decade. Monitoring whether shifts in housing demand following the COVID-19 pandemic will reverse this trend will be key.
  • 30-November-2021

    English

    Countering Public Grant Fraud in Spain - Machine Learning for Assessing Risks and Targeting Control Activities

    In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments face both old and new fraud risks, some at unprecedented levels, linked to spending on relief and recovery. Public grant programmes are a high-risk area, where any fraud ultimately diverts taxpayers’ money away from essential support for individuals and businesses. This report identifies how Spain’s General Comptroller of the State Administration (Intervención General de la Administración del Estado, IGAE) could better identify and control for grant fraud risks. It demonstrates how innovative machine learning techniques can support the IGAE in enhancing its assessment of fraud risks in grant data. It presents a working risk model, developed with datasets at the IGAE’s disposal, and maps datasets it could use in the future. The report also considers the preconditions for advanced analytics and risk assessments, including ways for the IGAE to improve its data governance and data management.
  • 30-November-2021

    English

    Enhancing Public Accountability in Spain Through Continuous Supervision

    Spain has undertaken a series of reforms over the last decade to strengthen the government’s ability to deliver high-quality services to citizens and businesses, while enhancing transparency and accountability. One major effort spearheaded by the National Audit Office (Oficina Nacional de Auditoría or ONA) is the continuous supervision system (SSC), a risk-based methodology that acts as a litmus test for the financial health, effectiveness and sustainability of public institutions. Drawing on interviews, a comparative analysis of leading practices, and research, this report provides recommendations to support the ONA in further strengthening its management of the SSC by improving its strategy, use of data, and co-ordination mechanisms across government.
  • 12-July-2021

    English

    Spain 2021 Energy Policy Review

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) regularly conducts in-depth peer reviews of the energy policies of its member countries. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences. Since the last IEA review in 2015, Spain has solved a long-standing issue of tariff deficits in its electricity and gas sectors and closed all of its coal mines, which has allowed it to place the energy transition at the forefront of its energy and climate change policies. The current Spanish framework for energy and climate is based on the 2050 objectives of national climate neutrality, 100% renewable energy in the electricity mix, and 97% renewable energy in the total energy mix. As such, it is centred on the massive development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable hydrogen. Notwithstanding its considerable progress to date on decarbonising and increasing the share of renewables in the electricity sector, Spain’s total energy mix is still heavily dominated by fossil fuels. Notably, the transport, industry and buildings sectors all have considerable work ahead of them to meet the country’s targets for decarbonisation and higher shares of renewables. When all of Spain’s plans and strategies are implemented, a completely different energy sector will emerge in which fossil fuels are no longer dominant and end-user sectors are mostly electrified. Such a transformed energy landscape will come with new challenges and will provide new opportunities. In this report, the IEA provides energy policy recommendations to help Spain effectively manage this transformation of its energy sector.
  • 7-July-2021

    English

    OECD Employment Outlook 2021: How does your country compare?

    In some countries, employers used job retention programmes to cut hours while allowing workers to keep their pay and jobs; there, it is likely that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt. In other countries, there have been unprecedented increases in unemployment, but many workers will return to their jobs (or to new ones) as economies re-open and activity picks up.

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  • 6-July-2021

    English

    Enhancing digital diffusion for higher productivity in Spain

    The increased adoption of digital technologies has been transforming the Spanish economy. The COVID-19 crisis is expected to speed up this process. The new digital strategy, ‘Digital Spain 2025’, features a number of ambitious objectives in a timely manner. There is a need to promote digital diffusion across the country by developing communication infrastructure further, while addressing the digital divide across regions and ensuring digital security. Addressing key bottlenecks, such as people’s skills, through education policies at every level, would enable the use of digital technologies and boost productivity growth. This would help in particular laggard firms and low-skilled people, making the benefits of digitalisation shared by all. In parallel, R&D should be enhanced to lift the capacity of firms to adopt and use digital technologies effectively, resulting in improving their business models and products. Finally, business dynamism should be revitalised to encourage risk taking among firms, thus facilitating digital diffusion, while ensuring an efficient allocation of capital.
  • 15-June-2021

    English, PDF, 400kb

    OECD Skills Outlook 2021: How does Spain compare?

    The Skills Outlook Country Profile details key indicators to assess the extent to which Spain is able to provide strong foundations for lifelong learning; promote effective transitions into further education, training and the labour market and engage adults in learning. It also evaluates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult learning and the labour market.

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  • 11-June-2021

    English

    Mining Regions and Cities Case of Andalusia, Spain

    Andalusia is the largest mining producer in Spain, the second-largest copper producer in the EU and a leader in marble and gypsum production. The region benefits from two distinct mining subsectors, each with a rich network of suppliers that are relevant for local development: the metallic mining sector (e.g. copper and zinc), which accounts for most of the regional mining production, and the non-metallic sector (ornamental rocks, aggregates and industrial minerals), which is highly dispersed across the territory. The regional mining value chain has the potential to leverage the increasing global and EU demand for sustainable raw materials and thus become a frontrunner in leading technologies and circular processes for environmentally sustainable mining. This study identifies how Andalusia can build on its strengths and address current and future challenges to improve regional productivity and well-being while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and assisting EU climate goals.
  • 27-May-2021

    English

    Spain: effective implementation of recovery plan will strengthen COVID-19 recovery

    Spain’s economy is on the road to recovery, but the shock from COVID-19 has underlined the urgency of addressing long-standing structural challenges. While support continues to flow to the hardest-hit firms and households, investment and reforms should focus on driving productivity growth and the creation of high-quality jobs, according to a new OECD report.

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  • 19-May-2021

    English, PDF, 278kb

    Preventing Harmful Alcohol Use: Key Findings for Spain

    Spain has one of the highest levels of alcohol consumption – 12.7 litres of pure alcohol per capita per year, roughly equivalent to 2.6 bottles of wine or 4.9 litres of beer per week per person aged 15 and over. In addition, in Spain, some population groups are at higher risk than others.

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